Hal Steinbrenner is as dumb as his father

The other day Hal Steinbrenner was quoted as saying, "We put a lot of money into the offense, and they have been, as a whole, inconsistent. It’s been a problem. And it needs to change."

Like, duh. Did he really believe that shelling out all that cash was going to result in a super-duper offense? On June 11 I wrote a blog stating that the "Yankees' bats aren't coming alive anytime soon" and more than two months later, it seems that I was right.

The naive Steinbrenner crew and dopey GM Brian Cashman had unrealistic expectations this past offseason.

Carlos Beltran was aging and often injured, so could he really be expected to produce at a high level? Same with recently released second baseman Brian Roberts. Outstanding hitters in their prime, yes, but they were both way past those days when they were signed as free agents. Same thing with Ichiro Suzuki and the departed Alfonso Soriano.

Comparing Brian McCann to Thurman Munson was a bit silly, and unfair to McCann - in three consecutive years Munson had averages of .318, .302, and .308, with RBI totals of 102, 105, and 100, and hit over .300 in two other seasons as well. In his career McCann has hit .300 twice and has never driven in 100 runs.

Believing Mark Teixeira would drive in 110 runs a year after coming off a serious wrist injury at age 34 wasn't very bright.

If Derek Jeter hadn't announced his retirement before the season it would be clear that his career is over at this point, with his .271 batting average 40 points below his career average of .311.

Several months ago Girardi was quoted as saying, "I don't believe people forget how to hit overnight" and while that is true, this Yankee team was more of a case of a group of players whose skills have eroded significantly and just can't cut the mustard anymore.

So how many plaques are the Yankees going to hang in Monument Park?

It's nice to retire the numbers of great athletes, and to place plaques and monuments in or around stadiums. But the Yankees are taking it too far.

The Steinbrenners were probably hoping to sell more tickets with the announcement of honoring Rich Gossage, Tino Martinez, and Paul O'Neill with plaques in Monument Park. But do they really deserve it? Well if they do, so do many other former Yankees.

Yes, Martinez and O'Neill were important parts of 4 world championship teams, but so were many other role players. Sparky Lyle was just as valuable, if not more so, a relief pitcher than Gossage was. Willie Randolph and Roy White were vital contributors to the 1976-78 championship teams, so why not give them plaques?

I can understand giving Joe Torre a plaque (although I'm surprised they are doing it, given the bad press the Steinbrenners and others in Yankee front office received from Torre's book The Yankee Years). But retiring his number? That's a bit much. I can see not giving out his number for a long time, like 20 years. But retiring it? Come on.

Retired numbers as of today? OK: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. That would be Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera. Even if number 42 hadn't been retired by everyone because it was Jackie Robinson's, Rivera's 42 still would have deserved it. Numbers to be retired now and next year? That would be 2 and 51. Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. Not coincidentally, these would be the best 12 players in Yankee history.

Numbers to not give out for at least 20-25 years? Torre's 6, Roger Maris' and Graig Nettles' 9, Jorge Posada's 20, Elston Howard's 32, Casey Stengel's 37, Ron Guidry's 49, and Andy Petitte's 46.

I'd give all of guys with the retired numbers plaques in Monument Park, along with the eight men above.

Nothing against Roger Maris, but I could argue that Nettles was more important to his teams than Maris was to his.

I'm not sure why Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto, and Reggie Jackson had their numbers retired. Probably because Steinbrenner wanted to sell some extra tickets. I could see maybe giving Rizzuto a plaque in Monument Park since he also had a long career as a Yankee broadcaster.

Should any Yankee who has made the Hall of Fame have a plaque? Maybe, but then you'd have to include Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield along with Jackson and Gossage.

Retired numbers and plaques ought to be awarded to the very special, not just the special.